The increasing demand of energy, fossil resource limitation and environmental pollution due to fuels combustion make researchers for more studies on new and renewable sources of energies. Biogas is a renewable energy resource which is produced by the decomposition of organic waste under anaerobic conditions and is mainly composed of methane (60%) and carbon dioxide (35–40%). Livestock manure is one of the main organic wastes which if it is not managed properly will cause pollution to the environment. Anaerobic digestion of livestock manure and rural waste beside to sustainable production of an energy source as biogas can reduce unpleasant odors and microbial pathogens and produce rich fertilizer. The present study addresses on how the utilization of information such as rural and livestock population, land-use maps and geographic information system (GIS) could be used to develop a model for evaluation of biogas production from livestock manure and rural household waste in Iran. The model could be used to figure out the appropriate locations for construction of biogas production plants. The results also showed that 2740 million m3/year of methane could be annually produced using livestock manure and rural wastes in Iran which might be a good replacement for conventional energy and lead to reduce environmental impacts.
